Alaska Film Archives

[Alyeska start-up, press and TV crews waiting for oil 1977 part 1]
[Alyeska start-up, press and TV crews waiting for oil 1977 part 1]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has film AAF-20,001 numbered as Bacon 108-1, and titled "Alyeska Start-Up: WP [workprint]-400 feet" The corresponding negative was also included in box. Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 108 - 1 large reel, 2 medium reels, 1 photo and a magazine article - Start-up at pig launcher. This is the first time they put oil in the pipeline. They put a pig in the pipe first and in it was an electronic device that could detect where the oil was. You could walk along and hear the pig pinging and they had instruments that could pick it up to track it when it went underground. Bill was the only one allowed inside the pump station because he worked for Alyeska. There were TV crews from all over the world to film this and he was the only one allowed in. Bill was in there filming and the oil started to come into the pump station and all of the sudden oil started coming in and spraying all over the station. This guy that worked in there yelled at Bill, 'Does that camera run on electricity?' And Bill answered 'Yes sir.' He yelled back 'Shut it off,' so Bill did and he said, 'What the hell is the matter?' The guy said, 'One spark and this whole place blows to kingdom come - you don’t realize but that crude oil has everything in it - it has gas and everything in it so it will blow this thing to hell.' Once they cleaned it up a little they let him film again and he got film of them cleaning it up. The man in the pump station said, 'Mark my words before this oil gets to Valdez someone is going to get killed,' and sure enough someone did. There was a leak in the pipe and they did not shut off all the electrical stuff and the thing blew up. No one knows why but it happened."
[Alyeska start-up, press and TV crews waiting for oil 1977 part 2]
[Alyeska start-up, press and TV crews waiting for oil 1977 part 2]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme AAF-20,002 numbered as Bacon 108-2 and titled "Alyeska Start-Up, Press and TV Crews Waiting for Oil 1977: WP [workprint]-300 feet" [the corresponding negative was also included in box]. See AAF-20417 for an associated item originally labeled Bacon 108-3. Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 108 - 1 large reel, 2 medium reels, 1 photo and a magazine article - Start-up at pig launcher. This is the first time they put oil in the pipeline. They put a pig in the pipe first and in it was an electronic device that could detect where the oil was. You could walk along and hear the pig pinging and they had instruments that could pick it up to track it when it went underground. Bill was the only one allowed inside the pump station because he worked for Alyeska. There were TV crews from all over the world to film this and he was the only one allowed in. Bill was in there filming and the oil started to come into the pump station and all of the sudden oil started coming in and spraying all over the station. This guy that worked in there yelled at Bill, 'Does that camera run on electricity?' And Bill answered 'Yes sir.' He yelled back 'Shut it off,' so Bill did and he said, 'What the hell is the matter?' The guy said, 'One spark and this whole place blows to kingdom come - you don’t realize but that crude oil has everything in it - it has gas and everything in it so it will blow this thing to hell.' Once they cleaned it up a little they let him film again and he got film of them cleaning it up. The man in the pump station said, 'Mark my words before this oil gets to Valdez someone is going to get killed,' and sure enough someone did. There was a leak in the pipe and they did not shut off all the electrical stuff and the thing blew up. No one knows why but it happened."